Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-01-23

The readers OF Mr. HacgCri's new
stony "Shc Will remember that when
his little party OF adventures passed IN
the.p boat from the sea into ma East
African river they found on the bank a
wall OF stone that had evidently been q
eolidly-constructcd wharf in some re-
mote period In a foot-note he jUsti-
fcs this conccit 10y abiding t0 the ruins
Of - very ancient city on TIE coast at
Kilwa. south Of Zanzibar Il happens
that five hundred miles nearer the r.
gion in which he has placed his story
there are evidences of past ciyillza-
ton that are incompaTably greater than
those he mentions.
Some way south of the Zambesi
river there Is large region extending
from the sea nearly 400 miles inland
and 300 to 400 to the south in which
ruins are constantly being discovered,
proving that IN prehistoric times the
country was inhabited 10y a civilized
people To-day only the rudest black
tribes inhabit this land, save in few
places where the Portuguese have es-
tablishcd stations. The little beehive
huts OF the natives are seen among
massive ruins betokening a degree
ii architectural skill which rivals
that Of the ancient Aztecs.
Our knowledge Of these ruins is
still far from perfect Our earliest
records of travel and trade on the East
African coast, extending back to the
beginning of the Christian era, do not
mention them. Only in recent years
have the travels of Solous, Erskine,
Mauch, Baines, Mohr, and O'Neill To-
vcalcd TO us the monumental evidence
this country contains.
The coast town Sofala is shown on
all maps Of East Africa. Near that
town Carl Nauch found extensive ruins
remarkable for their enduring nature
and strange shapes. There are partly
ruined walls, still thirty feet high and
twelve feet wide at the base, built OF
small hewn blocks Of granite. In these
walls, sometimes fifteen to twenty feet
from the ground, are imbcddcd one end
of blocks Of stone eighteen to twenty
feet long, which were evidently usad to
support galleries Here and there, built
in the walls or standing by themselves,
are round stone towers, which evidently
rose to heights Of thirty to fifty icet.
Similar masses Of masonry are found
as far as $50 miles inland and little
north near the coast.
It is not positively known yet who
buit these ancient structures. No
trimmed archHologist has visited them,
and 10 search has yet been made for in
scriutions, though O'Neill says ne has
no doubt from what he has recently
heard that there are numerous insc1p-
tions on the ruins about Nanica. All
these ruins are surrounded by surface
gold mines. 1t is believed that all this
country was occupied some time before
the Christian era by great colony,
probably of PhGnician origin, and that
It's chief occupation was gold-mining.
Mr.. O'Neill says that these numerous
ruins are nearly as well preserved as
those of ancient Egypt, and better than
those of Assyria. Some day, nOdoubt,
they will be Systematically studied.
Their existence shows conclusiyely that
a large region in inner Africa, now
given up to savage men and wild beasts,
was subject many centuries ago TO the
control of people who were considera-
bly, advanced in the arts OF ciyillza-
ton.